Marin Voice: A view of Marin's prescription drug problem

He is quiet and unassuming; a pillar of the community. He is dependable and demonstrates a real concern for others. When he speaks, he does so forthrightly.

Neither didactic nor pedantic, his voice carries an instructional tone, like a teacher whose knowledge and credibility you would naturally believe and not think to challenge.

He has been honored nationally with the Remington Award, the highest honor one can receive in his profession.

I speak of Ross Valley pharmacist Paul Lofholm.

Paul is a regular at one of the smallest, but the members think, friendliest and most welcoming Rotary Club in Marin, the Central Marin Rotary. It meets every Monday in the back room of the Left Bank Restaurant.

I thought of Paul Lofholm this week in relation to the topic on which he recently was asked to speak: "Is There a Drug Epidemic in Marin?"

According to www.countyhealthrankings.org, among 56 California counties, Marin has the lowest premature death rate. We have the lowest rate of physical inactivity at 11 percent versus 18 percent statewide. When it comes to unemployed adults, we register 6.3 percent, far below the state average of 10.5 percent. Citing children in poverty, we have less than half the reported California County average — 10 percent in Marin versus 20 percent statewide.

Although the violent crime numbers peak at 441 incidents per county annually, Marin hovers at 210.

But the glow of good feelings about ourselves dims when we examine the areas where improvement is clearly needed.

One out of two children in Marin is obese and while according to Parenting Magazine "there are some genetic or hormonal causes of childhood obesity, in most cases excess weight is due to overeating and under-exercising."

Soda, candy, chips, vending machines are now contributing to nearly one-third of our young people's daily intake. Over a 30-year period, junk food has been documented to raise the caloric intake of our youngsters by 418 calories per day!

Marin is ranked for excessive alcohol use among adults, with 22 percent binge drinking in the last month.

Since 2009, "unintentional or accidental drug poisonings have caused more deaths than motor vehicle crashes in Marin County," according to the Department of Public Health Statistics Section and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

If that's not alarming enough, the number of controlled substances prescribed in Marin has risen steadily in the past four years, and since 2010 there have been enough prescriptions filled every year for every man, woman and child in Marin to have 47 narcotic pills, 30 sedatives and 7 amphetamines.

When it comes to opioids, a psychoactive chemical compound, the number of non-fatal emergency-related discharges because of overdose or related injuries has risen dramatically.

We live in a wealthy county, surrounded by natural beauty, cultural and educational advantages. But with those blessings goes the responsibility to honestly confront what is, assess what needs to be changed, and go about the business of doing it.

We are fortunate to have Paul Lofholm watching over our community. As Dr. Robert Gibson wrote in his Remington Award nomination letter, "I know of only a few pharmacists who can match the magnitude of Dr. Lofholm's dedication to the profession of pharmacy, his selfless devotion to the care of patients."

Noah Griffin of Tiburon is a public affairs consultant and a former community member of the IJ's editorial board.